Alive like Pearl Jam

The Good

• Raffy Furcal: He must have been jonesing to make up for that costly Game 1 error and a 1-5 followup contest, because Raffy wasted no time acquitting himself upon a return home.  The shortstop stroked Moyer's third pitch of the evening into left field for a base hit, sparking an avalanche for the Blue and a burial of the Philly's starting hurler.  A similar "pounce all over it" tactic was used when he deposited the second inning's opening pitch into the left center field seats.  That homer was more or less the knock out blow to the 77-year old Moyer, plus permission for Chad Billingsley to exhale a ginormous sigh with relief, as he now holds claim to the second worst 2008's postseason start.  Those 2.1 innings on Sunday may have coughed up seven earned runs (eight total), but Moyer's 1.1 IP/6ER lulu was one for the ages, and very difficult to top.      
  
  Furcal also made his mark with the mitt, scooping up a bounced toss from Russell Martin to nab a stealing Chase Utley for the first inning's final out.  All in all, a positive presence definitely felt.  As BK and I have mentioned several times, Furcal's prolonged absence made it easy to forget how much different a team these Dodgers are with him in the mix.  With all due respect to Manny Ramirez's undeniable impact in L.A., his bat and personality weren't the only elements sorely missing during the May-July struggles.  Next to #99, Furcal, at the top of his game, is the Dodgers' most dangerous player.  As Torre put it, "That gives you an indication of what he means at the top of the order."
• The first inning: Like I said, little time elapsed before the Dodgers were shoveling dirt to put Philly deep in a hole.  Furcal's leadoff single was book-ended by a Kuroda plate appearance, an obvious indication that success was being enjoyed.  In between, we saw Andre Ethier and Russell Martin (albeit via a Moyer changeup to the knee) reach base, Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake accrue one ribbie apiece and Blake DeWitt clear the loaded bases with a two-out triple to deep right, redemption for a Game 2 bags juiced situation that ended with a whiff.  DeWitt was determined not to see a repeat of Friday's failure.  "I fell down in the count 0-2 real early, and it's one of those situations where you can't strike out.  You have to put the ball in play somehow, and make something happen."
  
  To say the least, DeWitt succeeded on both counts.  Torre described the three-bagger as "a back breaker," and for all intents and purposes, that really was all she wrote for Philly.  Obviously, one should never crow "winner, winner, chicken dinner" after one frame burnt.  But when that frame ends with your squad ahead five runs to a goose egg, believing it's your stranglehold to lose becomes considerably easier.
• Hiroki Kuroda: Truth be told, I spent the opening pair of frames expecting to tag Kuroda with a "good enough but nothing spectacular" label.  He only gave up one run, but that time featured Kuroda getting hit, missing his spots and escaping what could have been considerably worse damage.  But after a one-two-three inning highlighted (or lowlighted, depending on your opinion) with a headhunter toss at Shane Victorino and both benches emptied, Kuroda hit a groove that would have made James Brown jealous, particularly if the late Godfather of Soul was a fan of pitchers retiring their next nine batters in succession.  The magic (along with the energy) ran out by the seventh when two singles, a double and a second earned run without an out recorded prompted Torre to give him the hook.  But Kuroda exited to a slew of Dodger fans on their feet, applauding, and with good reason.  His 6+IP/5H/2ER/3K performance, not to mention his fightin' spirit, gave the Blue faithful a renewed lease on their postseason life hopes.  "After losing two in a row, I wanted to change the momentum," said Kuroda.  "I feel good that we had a big victory."  You and everyone else, Hiroki. 
• Cory Wade: Two innings in relief of Kuroda.  One hit, a pair of K's and very little trouble outside of what he inherited.  Dude's becoming the kind of pitcher you can set a watch to.  No argument from his manager.  "What was it, first and second, nobody out, runs scored," mused Torre of the imperfect scenario Wade faced.  "And he pitched the two innings.  I thought that was huge for us at this time, because (Philadelphia) is very explosive, no question." 
  
  High praise, but as usual, the rookie reliever declined the chance to draw much attention towards himself.  "To me, it's kind of become my job now," shrugged Wade. "I'm going to do whatever Joe asks, whatever the coaching staff asks. I don't look at it as anything other than doing my job.  It sounds silly, but that's the way you have to look at it. It allows you to approach it simply and makes everything for the better."
• Nomar Garciaparra: I doubt he'll get many starts during the playoffs, so he might as well make the most of the ones offered.  2-3 at the dish, with a ribbie and a sweet scoop grab of a hot bouncer from Shane Utley would qualify as doing just that.                                     
• Cupcakes: Red Velvet, coconut and chocolate, kindly provided by the Dodgers to us media types to celebrate the NLCS hitting L.A.  I'm not huge on sweets, but these definitely fell into the "yummy" category. Thanks to 710 ESPN Insider and Blue Notes buddy Beto Duran for the pic.

The Bad

• Tempers: To paraphrase early 90's sensation "Snap," it's getting... it's getting... it's getting kinda chippy.  I'm curious to see if any bad blood spills over into tomorrow's action.  Asked about the throw at the Flyin Hawaiian's pineapple, Kuroda said the was aiming inside and the ball slipped.  Take that as you will (and I'm guessing Philly ain't taking it at face value).  But for what it's worth, Torre isn't considered about these emotions lingering.  "I really don't think this is anything that's going to be long lasting.  I think each game is going to take on a life of its own." 
  
  Optimism is always appreciated, but should the red stuff flow manana and beyond, might I make a suggestion to Manny Ramirez?  My man, you're tight with Pablo Ozuna.  Let him get in the middle of a brouhaha on your behalf and risk suspension if things boil over in fist tossing fashion.  The Dodgers are considerably more screwed without your services.

The Pelted

• Russell Martin:  Twice hit and multiple times within buzzing distance.  If baseballs were the Millennium Falcon, then Martin was indeed the Death Star tractor beam.

The Popular

• Tiger Woods: Cypress' Favorite Son is plenty well-liked among the Dodger loyalists, as evidenced by the applause received upon his seventh inning jumbotron cameo.  Either that or people were expressing a thumbs up to his choice of lady friends.

AUDIO

• Russell Martin: Download russell_martin_10.12.mp3
• Blake DeWitt: Download blake_dewitt_10.12.mp3
• Cory Wade: Download cory_wade_10.12.mp3

AK